It promises to be a banner year for the Tigers Baseball Association as the senior and junior teams will join forces at provincials.
“It’s huge for us to build momentum towards another championship run,” said Tigers’ president Darren Kirstiuk. “We’re gearing up for provincials already and it’s just a formality for us to host it this year.”
Last year the senior Tigers and junior Tabbies ran as separate entities, by and large, with a little bit of friction between the teams as they competed in the Sunburst Baseball League. Kirstiuk said the improved relationship with the Tabbies should give St. Albert a big boost at provincials.
“We have high expectations of the Tabbies. They picked up a lot of high calibre pitching,” he said. “It’s only going to be better when the top 25 guys from our two clubs combine for tournaments.”
The Tabbies also expect to have five over-age players on their roster, making them a little more senior than in prior years.
Buddy Beley and Doug McLennan will handle the dugout and on-field coaching for the Tabbies, as Jessy Beley and Taylor Lavallee otherwise run the show and off-field co-ordinations.
“We need somebody in that general manager type role and that’s where Jessy is stepping in,” Kirstiuk said.
Last year the Tigers lost all six contests in provincial play and were eliminated by the Fort Saskatchewan Athletics in the league championship playoffs.
“We’re out to win this year,” said Tigers head coach Kurtus Millar. “Last year at provincials it was not a nice performance. We need the same start we did last year, winning the first two tournaments, but we have to finish strong.”
The Tigers lost Zach Murray to retirement and Dave Ross as well on the mound, as the latter is still in the decision process but may show up for tournaments.
“Zach Murray retiring is going to hurt. He was a big, strong left-hander for us. [Ross] doesn’t even know, but it’s looking that way and that would be a huge loss. We still have Derek Dallorto, Sean Maguire and Craig Tomas, but it’s always nice to have at least four or five pitchers, especially for tournaments.”
To replace the pair of throwers, the club has recruited Brandon McPhail, Cory Boutilier and Brendan Mueller.
“Our biggest strength will be our hitting and our defence, which has come a long way in the last couple years. We’re lacking in some pitching, but we’ve recruited some pitchers. We’ve seen them indoors but we’re waiting to see how they do on the field,” Kirstiuk said.
The Tigers will need to rely on their hitting and defence early on until they know more about the quality of their pitching acquisitions.
“It puts more pressure on my guys, and they need to perform,” Millar said. “When we combine, we’ll have guys that will fill some holes and that will pick us up and get us through a couple innings. Hopefully our offence can get us extra insurance runs.”
Millar believes what he learned as a coach in his three years will play a big role as he moves away from the player-coach shoes he filled in his first two years and part of last season.
“It’s tough being a player-coach. You want to try do everything yourself. Last year I started letting back and just trying to coach and this year will be even more coaching and less playing,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot about guys personalities, tweaking their swings, how to talk to and encourage different guys. I’ve got good help with Marc Dallorto too. He knows the game very well.”
